Roller track



ROLLER TRACK C. G. JOHNSON Filed March 18, 1933 Oct. 9, 1934.

INVENTOR C/a 7z/ce6/cyfs o ATTORN EYS Oct. 9, 1934. c. e. JOHNSON ROLLERTRACK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 18, 1953 'IIIIIIIIIIIII ATTORNEYSPatented Oct. 9, 1934 ROLLER TRACK Clarence G. Johnson, Hartford City,Ind.

Application March 18,

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in channel track used inconnection with vertical lift doors of the horizontally deflectabletype.

An installed door of this type is provided with a 5 track assembly atboth vertical margins of the door which assembly is composed of verticalcurved and horizontal portions rigidly connected to form a continuoustrack. The door is held in its vertical position against the frame ofthe doorway by the engagement with a channel of the track of rollerssecured to the margins of the door and is guided during its openingandclosing movements by the same channel. When the door is open it issuspended in horizontal position by the support of the horizontalportion of the track for the rollers secured to the door.

In the operation. there is a lateral shifting of the door andconsequently of the rollers, which requires some provision to be made tomaintain the rollers in the channel of the track. Owing to the lengthand the approximately right angle formation of the track assembly, it isnecessary that the means provided to guide the rollers during lateralshifting of the door does not obstruct the insertion of the rollers inthe channel of the track at any point thereof.

An object of the invention is to provide a novel form of track by whichthe rollers are guided in the main channel thereof against lateralshifting movements of the door and at the same time permits the rollersto be inserted at any point in the vertical portion of the track duringinstallation of the door.

The horizontal portion of the track when the door is open must supportthe full weight of the door disposed horizontally between the twohorizontal tracks. For this purpose another object of the invention isto maintain the rollers from being pulled off the horizontal portion ofthe track 40 by the weight of the door and to strengthen the horizontalportion of the track against sagging under the weight of the door. Thefollowing is a description of an illustrative embodiment of theinvention taken in connection with the appended claims and accompanyingdrawings:

Figure 1 is a substantially medial vertical section through a doorinstallation;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2--2 of Figure 1, showing incross section the frame of a doorway, the door, the track at eachvertical margin of the door and showing in plan a roller in the trackand a roller supporting bracket;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation showing a view of the 5 door on thehorizontal portion of the track and 1933, Serial No. 661,529

supported by a track at two opposite margins of the door;

Fig. 4 is a detail view partly in cross section of the track, itssupporting bracket, and of'a roller in the track;

Fig. 5 is a detail view in side elevation of Figure 4; g I

Fig. 6 is a detail view partly in cross section of a modification of thetrack;

Fig. '7 is a detail View in side elevation of the track shown in Figure6;

Fig. 8 is a detail view partly in cross. section of another modificationof the track;

Fig. 9 is a detail view in side elevation of the track shown in Figure8; g v 1 I Fig..10 is a detail View partly in cross section of anothermodification of the track;

Fig. 11 is a detail View partly incross section of the track and theroller showing another arrangement of roller groove and flanges and of aridge on the tread.

Referring first to the conventional parts of the door illustrated inFigure 1, an outline of a structure of building consists of a door jambl a header 2, a ceiling joist 3 and a portion 4 of a vertical wallbetween'the header and the ceiling joist.

A door 5 composed of a plurality ofpanels 6 is hinged at their joints bya hinge 7 and is suspended in vertical posiiton to close the doorway inoperative connection with counterbalancing means 8. v

At the vertical margins of the door the hinges '7 constitute a bracketcarrying a roller'stem 9 which extends beyond the vertical margin of thedoor and at its terminalcarries a roller 10. v The rollers arepositioned to locate the rolling path of the rollers at the verticalside edges of the door and spaced therefrom, and the door seating faceis located between the roller axis and the jamb seating face during thevertical travel of the door.

A track 11 is mounted adjacent the jamb of the doorway and is providedwith a main channel 12 in which the rollers are disposed to hold thedoor in vertical position and in which the rollers travel and guide thedoor during its movements between the vertical and horizontal positionsof the door.

A track assembly in an installed door is composed of a vertical portion11, a curved portion 13, and a horizontal portion 14, rigidly connectedto each other to form a continuous track and support for the door ineither the vertical or horizontal position. A similar track assembly ispositioned at the opposite jamb of the doorway as indicated in Figures 2and 3.

When the door is opened the rollers guide the door on to the horizontalportions 14 of the track where it is held suspended in horizontalposition between the two track assemblies.

The present invention more particularly relates to a novel form of trackconstruction as shown in detail in Figures 4 and 5.

The main channel 12 of the track is composed of a fiat tread portion 15,a ridged or corrugated tread portion indicated generally at 16 and a web1'7 uniting the two tread portions and provided with an inclined wall 18adjacent the ridged tread portion 16, so as to space the remainingportion of the web away from the rolling path of the rollers.

The rollers 10 are provided with annular flanges 19 and the periphery ofthe roller between the flanges is grooved or channeled as indicated at20.

Due to the manner in which the door is supported by being freely hungadjacent the doorway and supported in place by the rollers in thechannel 12 of the track, the said channel forms a barrier for the dooredge to guide the door in its movements between the two positions,vertical and horizontal. It will be seen that the movements of the doorwill be accompanied by some lateral shifting of the door andconsequently of the rollers in the main channel 12 of each of the trackassemblies at either side of the door way. The ridge 21, of the tread16, cooperates with the groove 20 of the rollers to guide the rollersand the door against this lateral shifting. The door margin of the tread15 is free and provides thereby an opening through which the rollers maybe inserted in the channel 12 of the track at any point thereof. Thetread 16 is also provided with an upset flange 22 at the door margin ofthe tread 16. This may be dispensed with as shown in Figs. 8 and 10 butit provides a guard against the roller leaving the main channel of thetrack. The web of the track may be entirely inclined with respect to thetread 16 as shown in Figures 6 and 8 instead of being partly inclined asshown in Figure 4, or the web may be entirely parallel with the path ofthe rollers as shown in Figures 10 and 11, without departing from theinvention.

When the door is opened and therefore disposed horizontally on thehorizontal portions of the track assembly or track installation, theweight of the door between the two horizontal portions of theinstallation tends to pull the rollers laterally of the track or to movethe track laterally of the rollers and the full weight of the door beingborne by the horizontal portions, there is a tendency for these portionsto sag. With this invention, however, the ridge 16 cooperates with thegroove 20 of the rollers to prevent any relative lateral movementbetween the track and the rollers, and the vertical portions 23 of theridge 21 prevent sagging of this portion of the track. The upset flange22 will also cooperate with the track in preventing sagging of thehorizontal portion when the door is open.

The roller may be provided with a peripheral groove 24 and peripheralflanges 25 which are adapted as shown in Fig. 11 to permit the flangesof the roller to contact with the bottom of the tread 16 instead of theroller groove contacting with the ridge of the tread. This arrangementprovides a better bearing surface for the roller and also guides therollers against lateral shifting movement of the door and it alsoretains the rollers on the horizontal portions of the track assembly orinstallation when the door is open.

What I claim is:

1. A channel track for a vertical lift and horizontally deflectable dooron which a plurality of peripherally grooved single roller units aremounted on horizontally disposed shafts at the vertical margins thereof,said channel comprising a pair of oppositely spaced treads one of whichis flat and the other of which has a ridge extending longitudinallythereof and adapted to engage with the groove on the periphery of therollers to guide the rollers during lateral shifting of the door in itsvertical movements.

2. In channel tracks for vertical-lift and horizontally-deflectabledoors, wherein the door includes a plurality of peripherally-groovedsingle roller units mounted on horizontally-disposed shafts at-thevertical margins of the door, a track having a pair of oppositely spacedtreads with either of which a roller unit may contact inservice,

said treads, in cross-section of the track, present- 1 ing one tread asa flat face and the other tread as a rib face substantially complementalto the roller groove configuration, said treads serving to hold the doorin vertical position and to guide the door between open and closedpositions.

3. A track as in claim 2 characterized in that the spacing of the treadsis that of a distance insufiicient to permit removal of a roller unitfrom the track by movement of the unit in the direction of the rolleraxis, the complemental configurations of the rib face and roller groovepermitting removal of the unit by a pivotal swinging movement of theunit with the rib-face active as the pivot for such swinging movement.

CLARENCE G. JOHNSON.

